Our local paper has some comments on the weather

 Our town’s weekly newspaper had an interesting article by someone known only as The Insider about a couple of new record temperatures set here in late June.
The records, though, weren’t the high temperatures for the day. They were the low temperatures for the day. In other words, the overnight lows for a couple of days in late June were higher than they’d been in the time that temperatures have been measured, monitored and kept in the files here in Rolla, Missouri.

A good friend shared this photo of the Ozarks version of 
huckleberries, noting that in a day or two, they'd likely be
burned up by the blistering heat. 
                                       

The Insider didn’t sound any alarms, though, reporting that the numbers were “like a fairly typical July or August here in South Central Missouri.”

Then a couple of days later, there was some news in the national and worldwide media that the temperature on the Fourth of July was higher than it had ever been—or at least for more than 100,000 years. 

“Now, they haven’t had thermometers and weather stations for 125,000 years, but scientists are able to look at tree rings and ice core data and read the weather,” analyzed The Insider. “Reading tree rings and ice cores sounds almost theological to The Insider. Well, it wouldn’t be theological, because these scientists likely don’t believe in any form of theism, but it sounds like it is going beyond science into some other realm. The Insider, not being a scientist, could be wrong.”
Well, we’ll see what happens when August rolls around. That’s usually the hottest month here in Southern Missouri.
The Insider had some more to report on Earth’s hottest day ever, and you can read it all at this link: Couple of local temperature records set last week, but neither on Earth's hottest day in 175,000 years | Weather | phelpscountyfocus.com
The Insider posts daily weather data from the local NOAA Weather Co-Op Station, so if you’re curious about weather here in South-Central Missouri, take a look at Weather | phelpscountyfocus.com.

Thank God for the rain

It has just started raining.

The editor here, The Ozarks Boy, says he is not going to complain that he just carried bucket after bucket this morning to water hiswife's flowers on the back deck. Nope, he is going to thank God for the rain.

We really need it. Missouri is in a drought, like a good part of the country, and it is affecting our farmers and ranchers. I was at a meeting in town where a young farming couple who had just bought an established real estate firm said the hay production on their farm has been significantly affected. They are getting less than a thrid of the number of bales per acre that they usually get. That means they'll have to buy some hay from someone else, paying a higher price, no doubt, in order to have hay to feed the herd this winter.

It has been awfully dang hot, as well as dry, this summer. The temperature was above 100 a couple of days this past week.(Go see our local paper's website, Phelps County Focus). Now temperatures in 90 and above 100 are not rare, not unheard of, here, but that doesn't mean we like it when it gets that hot.

The Ozarks Boy's brother-in-law works in the Texas oilfields, and a week or two ago, he sent a photo of a digital thermometer--it might have been from inside his air-conditioned pick-up truck--that showed it was 113 degrees that day. No one here at The Ozarks Almanac remembers any temperatures that high here.

Forecasts for the next few days--The Almanac staff checks several apps and websites frequently--indicate that it will continue to be hot, although not as hot as it was Thursday and Friday. There could be some more rain, off and on, even on the Fourth of July. That's good, for it's been so hot and dry that The Almanac staff has been fretting about the possibility of increased brush fires during the Fourth celebration. Maybe the rain will diminish that chance. Thank God.

Well, the rain has stopped, so a check of The Almanac's weather station shows a good rain and some moderation of the themperature. The rain gauge out on the deck railing shows we got a little over 1 inch of rain. The thermometer held by suction cups to the outside of the window next to The Almanac office shows the temperature is in the 70s, not the 90s. Yes, The Ozarks Almanac weather station is a bit primitive.

Well, the writing of this report was halted by about 30 minutes. There was a citywide power outage but it's fixed, the electricity is on. The air-conditioner is running, and this Almanac report will be posted shortly.